Downtown goes green

Thursday

Mar 14, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The annual St. Patrick's Festival is set to attract thousands to the downtown square.

By Rick AllenStaff writer

'Tis the annual greenin' o' Ocala — oops, make that O'Cala.For the 11th year, the city of O'Cala gets its Irish on Saturday for the St. Patrick's Day Festival on the Square. The yearly greenin' begins at 4 p.m. and wraps up five hours later.And most of it is free; vendors will sell the beer and food and pots o' leprechaun gold yeh just can't pass up.“Everybody gets to be Irish that day,” said Darcee Rutherford Moreno, a third-generation daughter of the Emerald Isle who happens to be planning a trip to Ireland next year for “the next blue moon. I'm ready to connect with my Irish heritage.”“I've been coming to these festivals for years,” she added. “I enjoy the camaraderie. It's a group of mixed individuals from different cultures coming together for a common community.”And, of course, there's the beer.For the five hours of the festival, folk of legal drinking age will be allowed to quaff brews on the square, provided it's in a sealed container they open on the square, Magnolia Avenue or Broadway Street adjacent to the square, said Stan Creel, who coordinates special events like this for the city. It's likely the taverns and other public houses ringing the square will be offerin' green beer, he added, but that has to be downed under their roofs.“Our permit allows only sealed containers outside,” he said.He's planning for 4,000 to 6,000 attendees to descend on the square for some portion of the evening, which features Irish and Celtic music, Irish dancing, corned-beef-and-cabbage meals prepared by the Pan-Hellenic Society of Ocala, pedestal jousting and even an Irish dunk tank.And beer.There'll also be baklava, Creel said. “We're a blended culture. On that day, everybody's Irish.”Among those who are truly Irish is Ireland-born Ocalan Victoria Sexton, a festival favorite who's scheduled to sing for 45 minutes Saturday night.“I love getting the chance to break out the brogue on St. Paddy's Day,” she emailed from Gainesville, where she's a freshman at the University of Florida. “I'll sing all the Irish songs I know, and you can bet I'll be wearing green. I might even get my sister up to sing and dance a few songs with me.”Also performing Saturday is Seven Nations from Orlando, the popular “bagpipes rock” band, as they were described by one newspaper. The band will play at 6 and 8 p.m.“I've been getting phone calls from people as far away as Tampa asking how they can get tickets for Seven Nations,” Creel said. “I've been telling them there are no tickets, it's free and to c'mon up.“Altogether,” he added, “it should be one amazing night.”Contact Rick Allen at rick.allen@starbanner.com or 867-4154.